Page 70 - 1912 May - To Dragma

TO DRAG MA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI 189

campaign should be sufficient evidence to allay any fears as to the existence of

the college f r a t e r n i t y as an influential unit in politics.

The article was evidently written by one having only a hazy idea as to

Delta Upsilon history. I t is news to learn that James A. Garfield was a

founder of the Fraternity, and that its origin goes no farther back than the

"early sixties." A g a i n , "Greir, o f Pennsylvania," is a name that does not

appear i n the Decennial Catalogue.']—Delta Upsilon Quarterly.

Following the lead of the men's fraternities Kappa Kappa Gamma
published i n 1882, "The Golden Key," which since appears as "The Key."
Delta Gamma followed in 1884 w i t h "The Anchora," Pi Beta Phi in 1885
w i t h The Arrow, and Kappa Alpha Theta w i t h the Kappa Alpha Theta.
Between 1888 and 1899, Alpha P h i , Delta Delta Delta, Alpha Chi Omega,
and Chi Omega followed suit, and the last ten years have put upon the
Greek press publications f r o m almost all the Greek-letter societies, pro-
fessional and literary.—Themis of Zeta Tau Alpha.

The college f r a t e r n i t y system as i t exists now is no monopoly. The exist-
ing fraternities have no copyright on the letters of the Greek alphabet or
on various symbols which may be selected or on f o r m s o f badges which may
be designed. The way is clear f o r non-fraternity men to organize as many
more fraternities as they may desire, even enough to f u r n i s h membership
to every student. Some of the persons who criticise fraternities seem to
think that i f fraternities were abolished there would be ideal college de-
mocracy. They appear to forget that this would be opposed to human
nature. I n all conditions of society and i n all places there are class dis-
tinctions based on lines of social cleavage. There is no more aristocratic
institution in the country than Princeton where fraternities have been pro-
hibited over sixty years. The local clubs there are as exclusive as are
chapters of fraternities in any institution i n the United States. A t Harvard
and Yale, where fraternities are a negligible factor, there are many class
distinctions based on b i r t h , social position and wealth, and the highest social
honors that students can receive are invitations to join the local clubs and
class societies.—Scroll, Phi Delta Theta quoted by Eleusis of Chi Omega.

How many of us realize the part which the chapter home plays in the
development of the sorority or fraternity ideal?

The work of the chapter house has just begun when the rushing season

is over. Then comes the d r i l l , the training, and the a d j u s t i n g of the man to

the home and the home to the man. W i t h some the adjustment is easy; w i t h

others i t is not. / / becomes a science; each man has to be dealt with and

studied according to his appreciation, his way of looking at things, his

pliability. The benefit on those doing the training too, for they learn human

nature, learn tact, learn how to be firm yet agreeable, learn how to get at

a man by appealing to that part of his nature that can be touched. The

chapter house is'a laboratory for the study of human nature. Not all mem-

bers avail themselves o f i t to be sure, but most of them do, and so come out

of college with an understanding of humanity and the motives that move

mankind, which some men do not gain i n a lifetime.

So much f o r the coldly practical side of chapter house l i f e . But that is
not all. The discipline and effort are after all a side issue, a means to an
end, and that end finds its f r u i t i o n i n the realm o f sentiment.